1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to boat mooring apparatus, and more specifically to apparatus for securing a boat to a fixed dock or pier in such a fashion that it is free to move vertically with changes in tide or with wave action.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
As is explained in the Jarnot U.S. Pat. No. 2,808,016, in areas having significant tide differentials, a problem arises in mooring a boat to a dock or a pier in that it is necessary to leave the lines sufficiently slack to permit rise and fall of the boat with the tide and yet have the line tight enough to anchor the boat sufficiently to prevent accidental engagement with other moored boats or the like. Similarly, when a boat is loosely moored, wave action may repeatedly bounce the boat against the dock or pier resulting in possible damage to the craft and dock. In accordance with the teachings of the Jarnot patent, a hollowed, cylindrical, tubular post is affixed to the pier in a vertical orientation and a slot is formed through the side wall of the tube. Contained within the tube is a float having a tiepoint wall of the tube. Contained within the tube is a float having a tiepoint extending through the slot to which a mooring line may be attached. As the tide rises and falls, so does the float, thus maintaining the same relative orientation between the tie point and the boat being moored.
The boat mooring arrangement reflected in the Jarnot patent suffers certain deficiencies especially following some period of use. In that the interior of the tubular guide is exposed to the water and marine life, but is not particularly subject to the cleansing action of waves, the interior walls of the tube, after a short time, become encrusted with marine life and other debris which interfers with the ability of the float to move up and down within the confines of the tube in which it is disposed. As such, the float is subjected to undue wear and is ultimately destroyed.